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BEIJING — A curious thing happened two weeks ago as China was preparing celebrations for the
120th anniversary of Mao Zedong’s birth. The name of one of the main events — a symphony of
favorite Communist songs at the Great Hall of the People — was abruptly changed.

No longer would it be called “The Sun is Reddest, Chairman Mao is Dearest.” Instead, all traces
of China’s founding father were quietly scrubbed from posters, websites and programs.

The show was repackaged as a New Year’s gala called “Singing the Motherland’s Praises.”

The sudden alteration — ordered from on high — is just one of many signs these days of the
Communist Party’s uneasy feelings about Mao ahead of his birthday, which is today.

Even decades after his death, there is uncertainty about how to tackle the legacy of the man who
cemented the party’s grip on power but was responsible for the deaths of tens of millions,
disastrous policies and brutal purges.

At the heart of that ambivalence is a debate over China’s future.

Some people are pushing for the country’s new leaders to revive Mao’s teachings as a path to
stronger nationalism, economic equality and party legitimacy.

Others say the time has come not only for economic reforms and other new paths forward, but also
for an honest assessment of China’s troubled past.

“Mao has never left China’s political stage,” said Guo Songmin, a well-known leftist
commentator. “Now all sides want to use him to influence China’s political direction.”

Mao is everywhere, even after death.

In addition to that unavoidable portrait overlooking Tiananmen Square, he appears on most of
China’s bank notes, is invoked countless times a day in party speeches and remains a staple of
state-sponsored TV dramas and movies. This month, however, the Mao industry shifted into overdrive,
with restaurants flogging his favorite dishes, cities plastering his sayings on walls and a
plethora of statues making their debut — the most notable of which has been a $16.5 million gold
version inlaid with gems.

Beyond the flash, however, many still hold dear his ideals.

For Cao Zhaojin, Mao represents a simpler time before China became so money-obsessed.

“Chairman Mao represents a belief in communism, in putting the collective good ahead of
yourself, in selfless contribution and values,” said the 59-year-old retired factory worker from
Beijing. “Look at our society today. . . . Nobody believes in anything anymore but money and
personal gain.”

But Bao Tong — a former aide to party leader Zhao Ziyang, who was purged during the 1989
Tiananmen Square crackdown — wrote a scathing editorial on Monday decrying the creation of a false “
myth of Mao” that “still haunts China today.”

In a phone interview from his home, where he is under house arrest, Bao said he had his essay
smuggled out to Radio Free Asia because he believes that how China thinks of Mao has a huge effect
on its present and future.

Meanwhile, many officials are carefully taking their cues from China’s new leader, President Xi
Jinping.

His actions have appeared driven not by ideology but by consolidation of power above all else,
analysts and party officials say.

Last month, on a visit to Mao’s home province of Hunan, Xi warned officials to tone down the Mao
worship, calling for events that are “grand” but “simple and pragmatic.”